Professor Kevin Featherstone is “Eleftherios Venizelos” Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor of European Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He served as Director/Head of the LSE’s European Institute from 2004 to 2007 and in 2011 and 2012.

He was previously Professor of European Politics (1995-2002) and Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration Studies (1994-2002) at the University of Bradford; Lecturer in Politics, University of Stirling; also, Visiting Professor in Politics, New York University (1990-91); Visiting Professor in International Relations, University of Minnesota (1983). He is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Center for European Studies, Harvard University. His research has focused on the politics of the European Union and the politics of contemporary Greece; his work has been framed in the perspectives of comparative politics, public policy, and political economy, as well as history.

In 2010 he was appointed to an ad hoc advisory committee on government reform by the Greek PM and he continues as a member of the Greek National Council for Research and Technology (To Ethniko Symboulio Ereunas kai Texnologias, ESET). He is Vice-Chair, Advisory Board, Atomium Culture, Brussels: a philanthropic NGO dedicated to promoting closer interaction between academia, business, and government within the European Research Area [see: http://atomiumculture.eu/].

He is a member of the Academy of the Social Sciences, UK and a regular contributor to the international media on Greece and writes a regular Op-Ed in ‘Kathimerini’, Athens.

He has been a Member of the Scientific Council of the “Maria Tsakos” Foundation since 2012.

Dr. Chrousos is Professor and Chairman of the First Department of Pediatrics at the Athens University Medical School and former Senior Investigator, Director of the Pediatric Endocrinology Section and Training Program, and Chief of the Pediatric and Reproductive Endocrinology Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and National Institutes of Health. Furthermore, Dr. Chrousos has been Professor of Pediatrics, Physiology and Biophysics at Georgetown University Medical School, Washington DC, USA. According to the ISI, Dr. Chrousos is among the 200 most prominent clinical investigators in the world. He has authored more than 1000 scientific publications, has edited 23 books and his work has amassed over 40,000 citations, an irrefutable testimony to the importance and influence of his research on international biomedical science and clinical practice.

Dr. Chrousos was born and raised in Patras, Greece, where he finished his high school studies. He attended and completed his doctorate thesis at the University of Athens. Subsequently, he completed his residency in Pediatrics at New York University Medical School, New York, NY, and his fellowship in Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. He is Board Certified in Pediatrics/ Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes.

In his long tenure as a researcher, he has focused his research on the hypothalamicpituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis and has extensively studied the neuroendocrine alterations associated with mood disorders, sleep, pain perception, and immune function. His clinical and laboratory program is recognized worldwide for its extensive and highly original work on the glucocorticoid signaling system, diseases of the HPA axis, such as Cushing’s syndrome. Dr. Chrousos has contributed immensely to the biomedical literature and his work has provided new insights into a spectrum of clinical conditions and disorders that transcend the limits of classical Endocrinology, such as pregnancy, human development, surgical stress, sleep, and septic shock, as well as chronic complex disorders such as depression, eating disorders, and autoimmune –inflammatory diseases.

He has been a Member of the Scientific Council of the “Maria Tsakos” Foundation since 2012.

The 5th Plenary Conference of the Forum of the Heads of the Coast Guard Functions of the E.U. and Associated Schengen Countries (European Coast Guard Functions Forum-ECGFF) was held after an invitation from the “Maria Tsakos” Fountation, in Chios during 12-14 September 2013.

Delegates included prominent personalities of the maritime sector, including, among others, the Minister of Transport of France Mr. Frédéric Cuvillier, the former Minister of Mercantile Marine and the Aegean Mr. Kostis Mousouroulis, the Mayor of Chios Mr. Polidoros Lamprinoudis, the Secretary General of Maritime Matters of France, Mr. Michel AYMERIC, European Parliament representatives and Senior Officials of the European Commission and the competent the Bodies of the European Union.

The “Maria Tsakos” Foundation hosted the welcome dinner and the farewell reception at the last evening of the Forum.